What is the test for ex turpi causa?

To be clear, the ex turpi causa doctrine operates separate and apart from any determination of liability and causation – the issues in the first phase of this trial. It is a judicial policy that is triggered to prohibit a damages award (or part of a damages award) after a finding of causation and liability has been made. “The courts make it clear that the defendant has acted wrongly in negligently causing harm. They also make it clear that responsibility for this wrong is suspended only because concern for the integrity of the legal system trumps the concern that the defendant be responsible”: Hall v. Hebert, 1993 CanLII 141 (SCC), [1993] 2 SCR 159, 182.